Cowboys DC Rob Ryan calls Washington QB Robert Griffin III a special player: ‘That’s why they traded half a team to get him’

IRVING – This isn’t a great week for the Cowboys to be playing Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III for the first time considering they’ve only had three days to prepare for a player who presents so many challenges.

RGIII won the Heisman Trophy last year at Baylor by picking apart defenses with his legs and his arm. He’s smart, savvy and opportunistic.

“He is a special player,” Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said. “That’s why they traded half a team to get him. Obviously, he’s a tremendous athlete and they say he is a hell of a kid. I don’t like him, but I know he is very talented. This game looks like it’s in slow-motion for him already and hopefully we speed it up a whole lot this week.”

The Cowboys have stressed playing sound football this week against Griffin, especially when he’s on the move looking to pass or running the zone read option.

“A lot of the young quarterbacks they can’t make decisions on the fly,” Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. “He’s a guy who can run around and string plays out.”

Griffin doesn’t just run to run. He runs to pass, always keeping his eyes downfield as he escapes the pocket. That can put linebackers in a compromising position when trying to decide whether to attack Griffin or stay in coverage.

“You’ve got to really just plaster and stay on your guy in coverage. It’s tough,” Cowboys linebacker Bruce Carter said. “He’s able to run and if you come up to stop him he’s able to throw the ball over the top of your head.”

That’s why the Redskins are tied for fifth in the NFL with 45 plays of 20 yards or more.

Also, it’s not a great idea to blitz Griffin. He’s posted an NFL-best 130.2 passer rating against the blitz, completing 31-of-50 pass attempts for 442 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions.

“It’s hard to blitz a guy when you got to keep your option responsibility,” Ryan said. “When you start going off on it like that, it’s a great thing to do when it’s pass and when they don’t block it. But you have to be smart. You have got to pick your spots or those go for 76 yards like they did against Minnesota. We don’t like to play that way. We like to limit the big plays, get after them. The big thing is we have to hit these guys hard. That’s the big thing. We have big football players out there on defense and we plan on hitting them hard. And that’s what is going to happen.